Mass Effect: Beginnings
by DeltaAgent
Summary: John Shepard has secured a position on the Normandy as its XO. But what that position gets him into turns out to be much more than anything he bargained for. BroShep and Garrus in a brothers-in-arms style friendship, slightly AU rushed retelling of Mass Effect with original missions thrown in.
1. High-Stakes Mission

**A/N: This series of stories is going to cover a good portion of all three games. I'm going to try hard to put in fairly good amounts of originality. Let me know what I can improve on!**

**Here is my Shepard's description: Paragon Male Soldier who is an Earthborn War Hero.**

**First name for my Shepard is John. **

1: High-Stakes Mission

"Approaching mass relay. Standing by to engage FTL drives." Joker said calmly into the intercom. Switching it off, he turned to Kaidan, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "You ready?"

"As much as I can be. Let's go." Kaidan answered.

"Alright, then." Joker said. Turning the intercom on again, he said, "Jump is a go, everyone. Engineering, get ready."

The Normandy approached the relay. As soon as it got close, the relay began to charge it with energy. Seconds later, the ship shot off at unbelievable speed.

"All systems green across the board." Reported Joker, proud of himself.

"Well done. Your captain will be pleased." A turian in black and red armor standing behind them looked on in approval, and then walked back down the hall towards the CIC.

"Asshole." Joker muttered.

"Nihlus Kryik of the Spectres just gave you a compliment, so you're criticizing him?" Kaidan asked, half-scolding.

"Rembering to zip up your suit after walking out of a bathroom is a 'well done'. Taking a ship through its first relay jump without everyone dying deserves more than that." Joker answered.

"Officer on deck!" An Alliance soldier shouted, prompting Kaidan and Joker to stand up, though Joker had a little difficulty.

Behind them, the XO of the Normandy, Commander John Shepard, approached. "At ease." He ordered calmly, and Joker and Kaidan sat back down.

"Hey, Commander. Can I ask you something?" Joker asked.

"What is it, Joker?"

"What do you think of Nihlus? I get the feeling he's up to more than just checking out the Normandy."

"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs." The Commander agreed.

"Shepard." A voice behind them called.

John turned around to see his mentor and CO, Captain David Anderson, standing behind him. "Yes, Anderson?"

"Nihlus wants to see you in the briefing room. I'll be there shortly. But he said he wanted to discuss something with you privately first."

"Got it, Captain."

Shepard made his way off the bridge and CIC.

#

"Good day, Commander." Nihlus said as he turned to greet John.

"To you as well, sir." Shepard replied.

"Please, just call me Nihlus. Spectres aren't that formal."

"Alright then. You wanted to see me privately?"

"I did. I wanted to know more about the planet we're going to. Eden Prime. It's supposed to be beautiful."

"They say it's a paradise."

"Have you ever been there?"

"No, Nihlus. This is my first trip. And I'm guessing it's not for a vacation."

Nihlus's eyes narrowed. "Well, you're not wrong." He said as Anderson walked in.

He nodded to Nihlus, who nodded back, and stated, "Well, Shepard. Do you want to know the real reason you're here?"

_Of course there's a secret reason. Nothing's ever that simple._ Shepard barely suppressed a groan. He thought about what he was going to hear. High-Value Target Extraction? An Escort? A First Response? He wasn't going to find out guessing to himself. Drawing in his breath and composing himself, he answered, "Let's hear it."

**A/N: And so it begins… I will have more chapters up soon, I was just really desperate to get this up. The next few will be more eventful.**


	2. Briefings

**A/N: This one is longer, fear not.**

2: Briefings

Garrus Vakarian sat in his office, pondering over his complete and utter lack of any evidence to incriminate Saren. A female quarian had come to C-Sec a couple days ago and said Saren was rogue. The Council dismissed the claim in about 10 seconds, but he believed her. But he could not prove it to save his life. Of course he knew why. Saren was a spirits-damned Spectre. Everything he got close to was wrapped in a nice 'top secret' file, with half of the words in it blacked out or encrypted. _Damn Council,_ he thought, _they're too blind to see their best agent turning against them._

Garrus was about to head to the bar to drink down his frustration when the head of C-Sec, Executor Pallin, walked through the door. Garrus didn't like Pallin, and Pallin didn't like Garrus. To his surprise, Pallin didn't immediately start yelling at him to stop breaking rules, as he usually did. "Did you find _anything _hard?" He asked instead, though his tone wasn't significantly nicer.

Garrus answered with a curt "No." He didn't even bother to take his eyes of the papers on his desk. "But I did find a small anomaly. Saren left the Citadel yesterday. No one knew the reason. And I checked with the Spectre office, it wasn't sanctioned."

Pallin nodded, but Garrus knew he was going to dismiss it. _Three, two, one… _"Garrus, that's barely incriminating. It's suspicious, but not enough."

"Well, since you shot that down, no, I don't have anything else."

Pallin nodded, with some anger on his face at Garrus's lack of subordination, and walked off. He stopped at the door, turning and stating, "I'm going to give you two more days. That's all the time the Council is willing to wait before they want something." He walked out, leaving Garrus to think about what the hell he was going to do.

#

"So," recapped Shepard, "A Prothean Beacon is on Eden Prime, and we lost contact with the colony as soon as they decided to ship the thing off-world. Now we're going to see what happened and ship it off-world ourselves."

"You've got it." Anderson confirmed. "But there's another reason."

_What now?_ Shepard wondered.

"That reason is the reason I'm here," said Nihlus, "The Council has decided to assess your candidacy for the Spectres. They chose me to do that."

"I thought the Council-and your species-wanted to keep humanity out of the loop for a longer time, since the First Contact War left some hate." Shepard wondered aloud.

"Not all turians hate humanity," Nihlus countered, "including me. We see only your potential. For example, you single-handedly fought off batarian raiders in the Skyllian Blitz. You not only demonstrated incredible skill but also tremendous bravery. The Spectres want people like you in their ranks, Commander. It's only fair that you be the first."

"Glad to hear it." Shepard said sincerely. "Now, how does 'assessing my candidacy' work?"

"This will be the first of several missions together. During those, I will determine how effective of a soldier you are. If it's enough to impress the Council, they'll swear you in."

"Yay team." Shepard joked.

Anderson cut in, "Shepard, if you pull this off, humanity will get more political influence in Citadel decisions. That's something we sorely need."

"I know, Anderson. I'll do my best."

"Glad to hear it." Nihlus said with a smile. Shepard couldn't resist a grin himself.

"**Uh, Captain? Commander? Mr. Spectre Man?" **Joker said over the intercom as Nihlus rolled his eyes, **"We're receiving a transmission I think you guys should see."**

"Put it through, Joker." Anderson ordered.

The screen on the side of the briefing room activated, and the transmission came through. Through the static and fuzzy quality, it was clear the group of Marines sending it were under heavy fire. _"If anyone is out there, this is Marine Team Echo-Three! We are taking heavy fire from geth! Repeat, we are being attacked by geth! Send backup immedi-"_The Marine's voice cut as he took a bullet through the head, covering the camera with blood. It zoomed up, revealing an ominous shape descending through the clouds with an unnerving horn-like sound. Then it ended.

Nihlus's mandibles twitched as Shepard and Anderson stared wide-eyed. **"It stops there, Captain."**

"Wait, rewind it a little." Anderson ordered. Joker complied, and a few seconds later came Anderson's "Stop. Pause it." It froze on the shot of the massive black shape. "Is that a ship? It looks like it's surrounded by red electricity."

"I haven't seen any ship that looks like that. It's huge." Shepard commented, "I think this mission just got a lot more complicated." Nihlus just shook his head.

Anderson shifted to his commanding-officer mode. "Shepard, get your ground team together and head to the armory. Nihlus, meet him there." Both of them ran off as Anderson turned to the intercom, "Joker, send a message to the both Alliance Command and Citadel Spectre Command regarding the situation."

"**Why Spectre Command, sir?" **It was clear he didn't want to notify a group of alien spies about a situation regarding an _Alliance _colony.

"It's their Spectre. I think they should know what we're getting him into."

"**Copy, Captain."** Joker sighed.

"What's our ETA to Eden Prime?"

"**Almost there. Should be about 15 minutes."**

"Notify the rest of the crew. Go on high alert. I don't know what we're going to find once we get there."

"**Yes, sir."**

**A/N: Let me know your thoughts and stay tuned for more chapters! Merry Christmas!**


	3. Prime Pt 1

3: Prime Pt. 1

Nihlus, Shepard, Kaidan, and the Normandy's newest crew member, Corporal Richard L. Jenkins, who was born on Eden Prime, all checked their weapons and armor as the Normandy descended out of orbit. Anderson was standing nearby. "Nihlus is going to jump 5 minutes ahead of you. He'll recon the area and inform you about the opposition." He said.

"You're sure you want to set off by yourself, Nihlus?" Shepard asked. Nihlus was a brave and galaxy-renowned soldier, but what Shepard had seen in that video had given him more than a little concern.

"I appreciate your offer, Commander, but I do best when I'm working alone. For what it's worth, I'm not any less nervous about this than you are, but I've worked like this for years. It would mess me up to change now."

Shepard nodded, but his doubts did not vanish. "Good luck." He called to Nihlus as the Normandy's ramp descended.

"Same to you." The Spectre nodded as he ran and jumped off the ramp. Shepard and his team began to prepare to jump themselves. Shepard went over his final weapons prep. _M-8 Avenger. Check. M-92 Mantis. Check. M-27 Scimitar. Check. M-5 Predator. Check. Ready to go. _

He looked at his squad. Both Kaidan and Jenkins gave him a thumbs-up. He checked his helmet communicator. As soon as it gave two beeps, its sign for being online, he said into the mike, "Normandy, this is Shepard. Checking comms."

A moment later Joker's voice crackled over the radio. **"Shepard, this is Normandy. Your comms are good. You ready to jump? ETA is 45 seconds."**

"Copy." He replied, switching the radio off. He turned to Kaidan and Jenkins. "Listen up, we have no idea what happened down there, but we're here to find out. Keeps your eyes open and stay alert. If you see any civilians, speak up. We'll ask about what happened and get them to a safe location. Nihlus will fill us in if we have anything particularly nasty headed our way." He looked at the time. "15 seconds. Prepare to jump." The small team walked to the back of the bay and turned to face the ramp.

"Good luck, Shepard!" Anderson shouted over the howl of the wind.

"Thank you, sir!" Shepard shouted back. The overhead light switched from red to green. "Go!" Shepard shouted to his team. 5 seconds later, he was watching the fast-approaching surface of Eden Prime.

#

Shepard deployed his rifle and searched the horizon for any signs of geth soldiers. Seeing nothing, he relaxed his stance. "You two good?" He asked.

"Still here. I'm not seeing or hearing anything, Commander." Kaidan replied.

"Likewise. This is really weird." Jenkins commented.

"Let's go then. Jenkins, take point." Shepard ordered. Jenkins complied, and the three of them made their way through the forest. Upon reaching a clearing, Shepard whispered, "Stop." He didn't like what he was seeing. The clearing had only a few rocks for cover, and he couldn't see what was on the other side. However, they would be in plain sight the moment they broke cover to cross.

"Come on, Commander. We can't just stand here. God knows what's happening over there. There could be colonists that need saving!" Jenkins urged, growing incredibly uneasy. With a sigh, the Commander made the hand signal for Jenkins to cross. Jenkins made his way to the first rock, then to the second. Seeing no reaction, he relaxed and started to move again. Ignoring common sense, he started to jog straight to the other side instead of cover-to-cover movement like he was trained to do.

Shepard saw this and got on his mike. "Jenkins! What are you doing!? You have no cover!" No sooner were those words out of his mouth when several geth drones burst into view. Jenkins barely had time to raise his rifle before the drones riddled him with bullets. "Shit!" Shepard swore as he and Kaidan opened fire. The drones hadn't seen them or their attack, and they were all dropped in a few seconds. "Cover me." Shepard ordered once the last one exploded. He made his way to Jenkins, but didn't hold out for a miracle. Jenkins was bleeding through multiple wounds to his chest, his eyes gazing skyward with an expression of surprise frozen on his face.

"Come on, Shepard. There's nothing we can do." Kaidan urged softly.

"Yeah. I know. But… damn it. I knew there was something wrong."

"The best you can do is make sure his death wasn't for nothing." Shepard pulled himself together and got up. "Do you want to check in with Nihlus?"

_Why not?_ Shepard keyed his mike. "Nihlus," he whispered in case the Spectre was trying to maintain stealth, "We just got a hell of a surprise from the geth. I lost a man. Be careful."

"**Copy, Shepard. I'm seeing plenty of geth myself. They are everywhere. It seems that 'ship' from the transmission is still here. The geth have created a perimeter around it."**

"Have you seen any colonists?"

"**I saw some bodies impaled on spikes. But other than that, I've only seen geth."**

"Acknowledged. Keep an eye out for more."

"**Copy, but don't hold out for many survivors with what I'm seeing."**

Shepard turned off the mike. "Let's go." He said to Kaidan, and they both jogged off, alert for any more surprises the geth may have for them.

#

About 10 minutes later, Shepard and Kaidan had just taken care of some more drones when they heard some other gunfire. "Is that Nihlus?" Kaidan asked.

"No. He should be farther off than that." Shepard replied.

"Could it be some survivors?"

"Maybe." He was already jogging in the direction of the gunfire.

They had only rounded a corner when a female Marine dashed into view. She ran behind a rock, just as her pursuit-four geth troopers-entered the area, looking around. She readied her pistol, and then jumped out, firing enough bullets to take down one of the geth before return fire forced her back behind the rock. "She needs help." Kaidan said. Shepard jumped out his cover and blasted two of the geth before they could even register his position. The fourth took cover but it was facing Shepard, and not the marine. She jumped out just as the geth realized its mistake. Its attempt to retaliate was cut short by the marine's pistol.

Shepard jogged towards her, Kaidan close behind. "Are you alright?" He asked instinctively.

"I'm fine. But the rest of my team isn't." She replied, her voice dark and angry.

"I'm sorry. We came as quick as we could."

The marine bit her lip from a "not quick enough" reply. "What's your name?" Shepard continued.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. What's yours?

"Commander John Shepard of the Normandy." Ashley straightened when she registered the fact that Shepard was a superior officer. "This is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. What was your mission?"

"We came to escort a classified artifact off-world. And then these bastards showed up." She pointed at one the dead geth. "And my team was slaughtered." She bowed her head. Shepard nodded. _It's a classic case of survivor guilt. Hope she'll get herself together._ Shepard decided to take the risk of a question.

"We're going to find that artifact. Do you want in?"

Ashley perked up at this. "Hell yes, Commander. My team died trying to get that thing off-world. And I'm going to finish it for them." Shepard nodded.

"Well, then. We're not going to get anything standing around." Kaidan and Ashley nodded and they ran off towards the spaceport.

**A/N: Two chapters in one day! I had a lot of fun writing this. Let me know your thoughts!**


	4. Prime Pt 2

**A/N: Real sorry about this taking so long to get this up. I got real sick on Christmas (Hooray…) and I got a ton of new games and movies which did nothing to help my mood for fanfics. Plus, school started. Anyway, a really late Happy New Year! Enjoy!**

4. Prime Pt. 2

"We should get to the dig site," Ashley was saying, "the artifact's still there. Or at least it should still be there."

"Right." Shepard acknowledged. They increased their pace to a fast jog and continued along the unnervingly calm surface of Eden Prime. They rounded the corner to find 4 colonists impaled on very tall spikes. "These must those bodies Nihlus was talking about earlier. But wait…" He took a closer look at the bodies. Something was seriously wrong with them. Their skin was a very pale white, while their eyes had been implanted with artificial optics. Cybernetic tubes ran underneath their skin and exposed ribcage. There was nothing to classify them as human anymore. "What the hell happened to them?"

Before Kaidan or Ashley could even shrug, Shepard saw one of their hands twitch. He drew his rifle immediately and trained it on the supposed corpse. "Did you see that? That one moved." Then the spike lowered, and the abomination shoved itself onto its feet.

"Oh My God! They're still alive!" Ashley exclaimed.

"If you call that living," Shepard replied darkly, following with, "Open Fire!" The shambling creatures charged them with unearthly moans. Their assault was answered with gunfire from the team, and soon all of them lay on the ground bleeding a strange green fluid.

"I don't know about you guys," Kaidan said shakily, "But I am really fuckin' freaked out."

"You?! Those guys could have been members of my team!" Ashley shuddered at the thought. "I pray to God they aren't."

"Stay focused you two." Shepard ordered, "We still have a mission to do. Ashley, which way to the dig site, and how far is it?"

"It shouldn't be too far. It's just north of here. My guess at the time would be 10 minutes, provided we don't run into the geth or more of these freaks." She replied, stepping over a dead mutant.

"Got it. But I need to warn Nihlus. He saw these earlier, but I don't know if he knows what they truly are."

"Ok, who is this 'Nihlus' person? I just joined with you guys, remember?"

"Oh, he's a turian Spectre. The Council sent him along for the ride."

"What the hell does the Council want here?"

"The beacon." Shepard replied quickly. He wasn't sure if he should tell her the other reason, as Kaidan didn't know about that either. To avoid losing time, he decided to keep quiet.

"What?! We're the ones busting our asses trying to protect the thing! They should stick their damn noses somewhere else."

"Yeah, but we're also busting our asses trying to get humanity greater influence in Citadel politics, and we're not going to do that playing hard to get. Now can I call him or not?" Ashley stopped protesting, so Shepard got on the radio. "Nihlus, you there?"

"**Yes, Shepard. What is it?"**

"You know the impaled bodies you mentioned earlier? They've been mutated and they're alive to some degree. On top of that they're hostile. We were just forced to re-kill some."

"**What? How is that?" **Shepard could tell that he was shocked.

"I have no idea, but watch out. We're headed to the dig site to get the beacon. Where are you?"

"**Same place I was last time you called. I'm overlooking the spaceport, watching the activity around the ship. It's gotten real active the past half-hour. The geth are sending out more patrols, and the rest are remaining in the spaceport complex. You must be causing quite a stir." **He had gotten over his shock, regaining his professional tone.

"Any headed toward the dig site?"

"**I don't which direction that is from here. I haven't been there. Hold on." **In Nihlus's hiding place, he drew an omni-tool and pulled up the satellite map. "Let's see…" He said off-radio. The dig-site was to the west off the spaceport, and he said seen a geth patrol of six headed that direction. He got back on the radio. **"Yes, there was a group of six geth troopers headed in the rough direction of it."**

"Copy, Shepard out." He clicked off his radio. "Ok, everyone. We might have some company when we get there."

"Nothing I'm not ready for." Ashley replied dismissively.

"Be careful with that that attitude, Chief. It might get you killed." Shepard warned.

"I've had this attitude for my entire life, Commander, but I'm still standing here."

Shepard rolled his eyes and sighed. "Touché, I guess. Let's get moving."

* * *

A few minutes later, the Prothean ruins came into sight. _Finally, I am more than ready to get off this damn planet, _Shepard thought. That is, after they took care of the patrol Nihlus mentioned. Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley spread out, and on Shepard's command, Kaidan threw a rock. The noise attracted the attention of all the geth, as all three humans brought their weapons to bear. Four of the six geth went down and the other two took cover in the ruins. Shepard signaled Kaidan to flank as he and Ashley traded fire with the geth. Kaidan peered out from the side of a wall to see both troopers firing, completely oblivious to his presence. He jumped out with his biotics flaring. One pull later, both geth were suspended in mid-air, moving toward Kaidan. A few bursts from his assault rifle finished the job. "Clear." He yelled to Shepard. They joined up and looked around the ruins.

"I'm not seeing the beacon. You sure it was here?" Shepard asked, making his annoyance very evident.

"Yes, but apparently it was moved."

"By the geth or our own people?"

"I'm not sure. It might have been the archeologists sending to the spaceport to be shipped off. Even if the geth took it, they would probably have taken it there too."

"Ok, then. I'll tell Nihlus." Getting on his radio yet again, he got straight to the point. "Nihlus, the beacon isn't here."

"**What?" **was the frustrated reply, followed by what Shepard thought was some muffled swearing.

"The geth or the archeologists must have moved it to the spaceport, according to Williams."

"**Who's Williams?"** Ashley frowned at that.

"Later, please. You see anything like it?"

"**No. And even if I did, the geth have locked the place down tight. There's no way I can get in clean. I'll wait a few minutes for an opening. If the geth send reinforcements to fight you, I'll sneak in."**

"Great. If we're going to work together, you should know I just _love_ being used."

A chuckle answered him, **"I know. I read it in your file in preparation for us working together."** The radio clicked off.

Shepard did his best to hide his annoyance at that last comment as he turned to Ashley and Kaidan. "We need to get to the spaceport. The geth are all over the place, so be ready. Nihlus might try to sneak in to get to the beacon if the geth turn their attention to us."

"So he's using us as a diversion." Kaidan commented, clearly thrilled at the fact.

"Yeah, he's not exactly making excellent footholds in my trust, but a Spectre's a Spectre, and we have jobs to do. Move out." They jogged off, making their way up a hill.

* * *

_15 minutes later…_

Nihlus watched the spaceport like a hawk searching for prey, making mental notes of every geth's position, weapon, and patrol pattern, waiting to sneak in. He couldn't trust the geth to go after Shepard, so he might have to take his chances and sneak in anyway. He has had his fair share of bad situations and high-stakes infiltrations with guards everywhere, and he managed to convince himself that he'd been in worse. Then, all of the sudden, quite a few of the geth started to break their patrols and return to the massive ship. _They're leaving,_ he thought,_I need to move quickly, and they've given me a nice window._ He armed his rifle and got on his radio, "Change of plans, Shepard. I'm going to sneak in ahead of schedule."

He heard a groan over the radio,** "We have incoming, don't we."**

"Actually, no. The geth seem to be preparing to leave. If I don't move now, we'll lose the beacon."

"**You mean **_**you'll **_**lose the beacon." **An angry female voice Nihlus didn't recognize said.

"**Williams, quiet!" **Another voice said, but he recognized that one as Kaidan Alenko.

"**Fine, we'll be there soon to provide backup." **Shepard came on again.

"Acknowledged. Don't delay." He got off the radio and started down the hill. He reached one of the platforms and took cover behind a crate. He could hear some footsteps on the other side. He tensed, then jumped out from the crate, rifle at the ready. But he was caught completely off guard by what he saw. Pure surprise showing on his face, his rifle lowered. "Saren?" He asked.

The figure turned to face him. "Nihlus…" He said, as if expecting him. Nihlus looked over his old friend and mentor head-to-toe. Saren didn't look the same as when he last saw him. His eyes were now cybernetic, tubes protruded from the back of his neck running down into his armor, and metal braces ran between his mandibles and the skin of his face as if holding the two together.

Deciding to put his strange appearance aside, Nihlus wanted to know what brought him to Eden Prime at this time. "This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?"

"The Council thought you could use some help on this, so they sent me to watch your back." He put a calming hand on Nihlus's shoulder and his rifle dropped completely to his side. Nihlus looked out over the farmland-turned-warzone, still wondering why Saren was sent but happy he was here.

"I didn't expect to see the geth here, the situation's bad."

"Don't worry," Saren's ever-so-calm voice returned, "I've got it all under control."

A few moments passed as Nihlus thought over this. "How? They are geth everywhere." He asked as he turned back toward Saren, only to find that Saren wasn't there anymore. In his place, a geth stood with a pistol in hand. It thrust the pistol into Nihlus's abdomen and pulled the trigger before Nihlus could even begin to bring his rifle to bear on the unpleasant surprise. It began to walk away as Nihlus looked down the hole in his chest, which his indigo blood began to pour out of. He fell to his knees, dropping his rifle.

His radio switched on, sounding the voice of Shepard, **"Nihlus! We heard a gunshot! What happened?" **But Nihlus's last thought before his vision faded to black was _Where did Saren go?_

* * *

Saren watched from behind a pile of crates as his old friend and former protégé fell forward. He sighed and walked to his inert form. He kneeled down next to Nihlus and checked for a pulse. Finding one, he put a small amount of medi-gel on the entry and exit wounds to ensure he wouldn't bleed out until the Alliance soldiers arrived. Sovereign had ordered him to kill him, but Saren hadn't been able to overcome his friendship with Nihlus which had lasted since Nihlus was 18. He had brought Nihlus out of his troubled career in the turian military and trained him as a Spectre, a role Nihlus quickly excelled at. That was why he had the geth shoot him, though he ordered it to shoot non-lethally. "Forgive me, Nihlus, but I can't let you interfere. This is what must happen." He got up and walked in the direction of the spaceport tram, the geth trooper following him. "Leave a patrol here to slow the humans down. I have to tend to my own business with the beacon."

* * *

Shepard and his team ran over the crest of the hill to see the massive ship begin to take off. Red electricity flying around it, it hovered slowly upwards uttering its horn-like sound from the video. "Is that a ship?" Ashley asked, incredulous. "Look at the size of it!" Kaidan and Shepard just watched as the black shape disappeared into the clouds.

...

They had just finished talking with a group of colonists that had holed themselves up in a small building and ran toward the spaceport's platforms. _A smuggler? Man, this colony is full of surprises for a place that supposed to be 'paradise'._ The squad ran into- and subsequently killed-a geth patrol around the structure. He reached the platform and rounded the corner in time to see Nihlus lying face-down with a wound in his back. _Damn it_. He ran over to his body and checked for a pulse. He let out his breath when he found one. _Thank God, he's still alive_. He rolled Nihlus over to see if the bullet went through him, earning himself a look at the front of his now blood-covered black and red armor and a moan from the Spectre. _Definitely still alive. The bullet went through him. _ "Kaidan, call the Normandy. We need to get him out of here." Kaidan immediately got on the radio to tell Joker. Shepard looked down at Nihlus, medi-gel ready, just in time to see his eyes flutter open. He glanced around; a fearful look in his eyes, which was something Shepard hadn't expected to see from a Spectre. With his situation, however, Shepard couldn't really blame him.

"Nihlus, don't try to move. We're going to get you out of here." Nihlus tried to speak, but the resulting blood gurgles turned his words into an unintelligible mess. "I should have told you not to talk either. You took one in the gut and it went through you. You be fine." _If Joker can get his ass over here._ His comforting of Nihlus ceased as a thump sounded from behind some crates. Setting Nihlus down gently, he drew his pistol and pointed it at the crates. "Who's there?"

A human man emerged, clearly nervous about a soldier pointing a gun at him, but relieved to see another human. "Sorry, I didn't what was happening. I've been hiding for quite a while. My name's Powell." Shepard recognized his name as that of the smuggler. A bloody cough drew Powell's attention to Nihlus. "Holy shit! That guy's still alive? I thought he was a goner for sure." He recounted the entire encounter between Nihlus and Saren, particularly the part about Saren waving over a geth to shoot Nihlus. Nihlus was the most surprised of the soldiers.

Soon, the Normandy flew into sight as Shepard and Kaidan prepare to carry Nihlus on a makeshift stretcher, while Ashley berated Powell for smuggling military arms while "My team was trying to protect your sorry asses!"

Shepard and Kaidan hurriedly handed Nihlus over to a medical team and returned to Ashley, who managed to get the direction Saren went, apparently on the spaceport's tram. Leaving Powell behind, the trio got on the tram and followed Saren's footsteps as the Normandy returned to orbit.

* * *

Saren listened intently as the geth told him about the impending arrival of the Alliance soldiers. His reaction was quick and ruthless, "Set charges and destroy the colony. Leave no evidence behind." The geth nodded and ran off to relay the orders. He turned to the beacon, which lifted him off the ground. Through the incredible pain it inflicted, Saren was given his next objective…

* * *

Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley disembarked off the tram to be greeted by a hail of gunfire. Responding with shots of their own and Kaidan's biotics, the group made their way forward. Shepard rounded a corner to find a large bomb sitting in an enclave. Drawing his omni-tool to disarm it, he shouted, "Cover me!" to his team as he got to work. When it switched off, he took note off the final time on its countdown: around four minutes. "Look out for others, I'm pretty there will be some." Sure enough, there were three more, with a nice side of geth troopers and destroyers. After disarming the last one with seconds to spare, he ran onto a platform that contained what he was looking for. It also contained what he wasn't looking for; a pack of mutated colonists charged towards the team. Coordinated rifle fire put an end to their mindless charges, and the three began to survey the area.

"Damn, Commander. Look at this thing." Ashley remarked as she neared the glowing green obelisk. "I wonder what it does." As if answering, the beacon began to pull her towards it. Ashley fought its grip, but it did no good. Shepard saw her struggle and sprinted towards her, using his momentum to slam her out of the way. "Commander!" she cried as she realized what Shepard had done.

But it was too late; the beacon lifted him off the ground, causing his body to spasm and twitch. The beacon filled him with visions. All of them were horrible. The visions were filled with awful, awful things…

Death.

Destruction.

Mutilation.

More Death.

The images subsided to show a red squid-like figure, which uttered three foreboding words: **"This is inevitable."**

**A/N: I know my change to Nihlus's death might not have been the most creative thing, but I couldn't help myself. Notice: After the first visit to the Citadel, I'm probably going to **_**speed**_** through the game, save for a couple of original missions which will tie into my future fics. If you have a mission you really want me to cover, even if it's a minor mission, leave it as a review and let me know (I'm not going to take too many, but I'll take a few). It will probably be like this again at Virmire, then again at the beginning of the Illos mission, running into the Battle of the Citadel. Nihlus will appear intermittently throughout( That's all I'm saying for fear of spoiling my own writing.) Let me know about your mission suggestions and your thoughts about how I'm doing so far.**


	5. To The Citadel

**AN: Sorry again for the long delay, but wow, I have had a complete lack of mission recommendations. It's not too late guys! I'll try to get a new chapter up every weekend. After the citadel investigations comes the massive skipping, I'll basically just summarize until my original missions come in. Those will tie into my later fics, all the way to post-ME3 works. (Sounds daunting, but school is the only reason these are taking so long.)**

5: To The Citadel

Shepard's eyes slowly opened to bright light, his world slowly coming into focus. "John? Don't try to move." That was undeniably the voice of Dr. Chakwas. Every doctor always sounded the same when you were first waking. _Don't do anything, you'll screw yourself up._ He'd always ignored them, and he would do the same again. He did take his time sitting up, though. He looked around. He was in the med-bay, of course. But his eyes focused on Nihlus, lying on the bed next to his own.

"Is he…?" He began, still not having regained his complete ability to speak.

"He's fine, Shepard. Just resting. He got very lucky."

"Yeah. I thought geth only went for headshots. How long have I been out?"

"Almost a day. What happened, Commander? Kaidan reported that you looked you were having a seizure, let alone being hurled 50 feet afterwards."

"I had a… I don't know… a vision, I guess. It showed me very awful things." His memory flashed the hideous images, but Shepard immediately drove them out. He again looked at Nihlus, who was no longer wearing armor, but casual military clothing Shepard guess he wore under it. A bandage covered a decent portion of his gut. "Are we going back to the Citadel?"

A "Yes" answered him, but it came from the now-entering Anderson, followed by Ashley. Shepard did his best to snap to attention, but nearly fell over. "Don't bother, Shepard. You don't need to do that after what you've been through." Shepard ignored him and saluted.

"What did I miss?"

"Well, the Council's not too happy about the mission's failure. Not to mention one of their top agents nearly got killed. Ambassador Udina's even more pissed."

"Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Granted."

"Ambassador Udina can screw off. We did the best we could, and Jenkins died because of it."

Anderson threw up his arms defensively. "I know, Shepard. I feel the same way. But we've got to face the facts. Udina has to deal with the fact that a much respected Spectre nearly got killed trying to help us."

Shepard opened his mouth to protest, but closed it immediately. "Right. Ashley, how are you settling in?"

"Fine, Commander. I'm just pretty upset that you nearly died saving _me_."

"Did I hurt your ego, Chief?" John teased.

Ashley smiled. "You're gonna need a whole lot more than that to break mine, Skipper."

"Skipper?"

"I don't usually call people by their first names, and I hate being completely formal, so I come up with nicknames for a lot of people."

"I don't mind. Just don't make it an insane habit."

"Don't want your good and disciplined crew to pick it up?"

"Something like that."

Ashley smiled and turned to the door. "I'll be in the mess hall if you need me."

Anderson turned to Shepard, smiling. "Branching out, are we?'

Shepard feigned annoyance. "Please. You should have seen her fight, Anderson. She'll make a hell of an addition to the team."

Anderson's smile didn't fade. "Alright, then. I'll be on the bridge, trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with a very angry Udina and a very unsatisfied Council. We're headed to the Citadel, holding a trial against Saren for attacking a human colony."

"He needs to be stopped." Shepard agreed.

Anderson grew serious. "If Saren is in control of the geth, humanity is in grave danger. Even Earth isn't safe. If I'm any good at predicting, I'd say he won't stop until he's wiped us from the face of the galaxy."

"Understood." With a nod, Anderson turned and walked toward to the stairway that led to the bridge.

* * *

Garrus sat in his office, thinking over the Alliance's accusation of Saren attacking Eden Prime, similar to the female quarian's accusations prior to it. Now he had more of a chance than ever of proving that Saren was dirty, but he still didn't have the proper evidence. _Damn it, Vakarian. You fucked up yet again. Congratulations._ He drew himself from his self-torment to look at the evidence once more. The only new part was a report from a human dockworker. The Council would hardly even recognize that as valid. His anger flared up again, now focusing on that fact that one of the few people he considered a friend nearly died. Nihlus had tried to recruit him all those years ago, back when his was still serving in the turian military, and his father had done the very polite way of telling him to go to hell. Regardless, Nihlus still accompanied Garrus on one of his missions while serving on the turian cruiser _Spaedar_, named the historic colonial city on Taetrus. Nihlus had saved Garrus's life on that mission, and he had yet to repay the debt.

"_Vakarian! We need that gun online NOW!" Captain Vedarus shouted over the near-deafening gunfire coming from the very well dug-in batarians on the other side of the bridge. Garrus crouched next to the damaged C-77 Tyrus APC sitting next to where a huge chunk off the bridge had been blown off by the IED and activated his omni-tool. That IED had pretty much taken out or seriously screwed up everything, but the weapons systems still had power… _

"_I hope this where all the time I spend in the batteries pays off." Garrus muttered to himself._

"_Vakarian?!" The captain shouted._

"_I need a minute!"_

"_You have thirty seconds! Maybe less!"_

"_Sir!" Some private who's name escaped Garrus pointed. "They're setting up RPGs in the building overlooking our position!"_

"_Focus fire on them! Do NOT let them get set up!" _

"_Yes, sir!" The team immediately began to shoot at the upper floors of the building ahead of them. Some kept their guns trained on street level, where the less heavily armed enemies kept up their own relentless assault. Garrus succeeding in gaining access to a barely working interface that told him everything was offline. "Damn it." He had to get something online. The main cannon, the coaxial turret, something…_

"_Garrus! Don't tell me you can repair and calibrate a cruiser's mass accelerator and not get some stupid turret online!" That was Chellick, who was maybe the person on the squad Garrus liked most._

"_Are YOU really complaining?!" Garrus shouted back. "Get your ass over here and give it a shot!" Chellick laughed despite the situation and the captain yelled at him for it. Garrus kept trying to get power to the gun and boot up the firing algorithms so it would actually shoot._

"_Fuck! RPG!" Someone shouted over the comm. Sure enough, a rocket slammed into the already unstable bridge. Garrus realized too late that he was a little too close to the edge. The massive vibrations messed up his footing and he fell off, barely reaching up in time to grab a protruding concrete rod with his talons._

"_Uh. Help!" Was all he said. He looked down at the river below. The batarians were actually smart enough to use the fact that turians couldn't swim. He felt the rod begin to give. "Shit…" As it gave way, a gloved hand shoot out and grasped his wrist. He looked up to see Nihlus, his blue eyes meeting Nihlus's green. _

"_You just going to dangle there looking at me or help me pull your ass up?" Garrus's eyes narrowed and his other hand grasped the edge as Nihlus pulled him up. "Now, you were playing with that gun?" He gestured to the APC. Garrus rolled his eyes and brought up his omni-tool again. He got the power on, followed swiftly by the algorithms and targeting system. He trained the gun on the building filled with the RPG-toting batarians. The shot would be pretty inaccurate, but he couldn't care less. All he needed was the gun to destroy the building. He punched in the command to fire. The subsequent _BOOM _and the explosion that sent flaming batarians flying in all directions was satisfying enough._

* * *

Nihlus began to stir, his senses waking to find an immense pain in his chest. "Errrr…" His hand flew to his gut, but it didn't really help. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't stand the pain. His vision focused on two figures across the room. He recognized the Normandy's doctor running some scans on Shepard, how looked pretty tired and stressed. _What did I miss?_ Shepard saw him looking around and walked over.

"Chakwas…" He said to the doctor, "He's waking up."

Chakwas walked over also and scanned Nihlus. "Good day, Mr. Kryik. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot." Came the Spectre's reply. "What happened?"

Shepard stepped up. "All hell broke loose, to be exact. If it makes you feel any better, I've been unconscious almost as long as you have."

"What happened to you?"

"Well, we found the beacon, but it did something strange that happened to throw me across the platform."

"Spirits…"

"It also gave me a vision."

"Of what?" Nihlus was genuinely intrigued.

"Of a lot of things, none of them particularly pretty. Many of them dealt with death and destruction."

"Sounds fun." He replied sarcastically.

"You have no idea."

"Anyway, my memory pretty much stops after getting shot. I remember looking around later, trying to talk. You were there. So was some other human, babbling about… I don't really recall…"

Shepard tensed. If Nihlus didn't remember Powell saying that Saren ordered the geth to shoot him, he wasn't really sure if he needed to know now. He had read Nihlus's file. Saren was one of his closest friends. If he told Nihlus the truth, he wasn't sure how the Spectre would react.

"I saw Saren there. Where did he go?"

Shepard took a deep breath. "That human you were talking about said Saren left using a tram. We followed, but when we reached the beacon, he wasn't anywhere to be seen."

"I hope he's alright." Nihlus replied. Shepard nodded in response.

"We're headed to the Citadel to speak with the Council. I would prepare myself for harsh politics if I were you." _And a very nasty revalation._ He added silently.

Nihlus nodded. "The first place I'm going is Spectre Command. I'm going to request a transfer."

"Why?"

"To get the hell of your crazy ship." Shepard laughed.

"Aw, Nihlus. We were just getting to know each other."

"Frankly, Commander, I'm not sure if I want to complete that journey."

Shepard sighed. "Well, you can always change your mind. But I don't really blame you."

**A/N:_ Please _let me know your thoughts and/or mission recommendations. Thanks!**


	6. Politics Suck

**A/N: Damn it, _Tomb Raider_! You're so addicting! Another chapter, another apology for the delay. This chapter and the next are the last two before all the original missions play their part. This one will probably be brief, but the next will be longer. (But I'm just estimating there.) Again, mission recommendations are appreciated if you want to recommend!**

6: Politics Suck

John made his way to the Normandy's cockpit, unsure of whether he should look forward to the next 'shore leave'. He was strongly leaning toward not doing so, but he would do it anyway. He had to. He walked down the short hallway and came up behind Joker and Kaidan. Joker was the first to notice his presence. "Hey Commander, what'cha doing?"

"I just was walking around. Figured I'd come up here and figure out how far away we are from hell. What are you doing?"

"Oh, y'know, flying the ship." He turned back to the controls only to turn back around again. "Oh, I forgot to ask. How are you doing? Kaidan here told me about that thing with the beacon."

"I'm getting that from everyone on the ship. I'm fine." He said sternly. He quickly changed the subject. "How long until we reach the Citadel?"

"It should be about a minute, actually."

"Great. I have a minute before several agonizing hours of political bullshit. A soldier's dream."

"I hear that, Commander." Kaidan interjected.

"Kaidan, how you coping with the mission? All I've heard from you are formal reports handed to me by Chakwas."

"Fine, Commander. Just happy you're alive."

"I'm flattered." Shepard instantly knew that Kaidan was hiding his true feelings to stay soldierly-as he often did-but he let the matter be.

"We're just about to drop out of FTL, Commander." Joker cut in.

"Understood." A few moments later, the Normandy slowed to normal speeds, coming out inside the Serpent Nebula. As it cleared the nebula itself, the Citadel came into view, its massive structure lit up and slowly rotating. Shepard had seen pictures of the Citadel before, as there were plenty to go around, but seeing it in person was very spectacular. The Normandy maneuvered itself into the space between the station's massive arms-the Wards-and passed plenty of ships along the way, including the asari dreadnought known as the Destiny Ascension, surrounded by the rest of the Citadel Fleet, composed of mostly turian cruisers. Joker took in the sight of Ascension.

"Wow, I'm really glad that thing's on our side. You see that gun? It runs the entire length of the ship!"

"It's the one and only military vessel that the Council steps aboard. I can understand the armaments. But, yeah, glad it's friendly." Shepard agreed.

The Normandy moved past the fleet after sending its authentication codes and neared the Presidium docks. The Normandy had its own dock, set aside by the Council itself, and it pulled in with ease. Shepard left the cockpit with Kaidan following behind him, moving to the airlock. Standing there waiting for them were Anderson, Ashley, and Nihlus. Shepard couldn't help but notice that Nihlus was back in his armor, but the suit's abdomen still contained the bullet-hole. "Still going to transfer, Nihlus?" Shepard queried.

"Yes." Came the curt reply. Shepard nodded and turned to Anderson.

"Where are we headed first?"

"To Councilor Udina's office."

"Oh, joy." Shepard put on a tired smile to maintain that positive attitude of his and followed Anderson out the airlock and into the docking hangar. They were greeted by an asari envoy sent by the Council, who offered to take them to Udina's office.

* * *

Chellick headed to Garrus's office, passing a gruff Executor Pallin, and stepped through the door. He found Garrus just getting up to leave. "How did it go?"

"I'll find out in a few hours. Pallin just took the evidence off my hands." Garrus tiredly replied. "I'm going to try again to persuade him to allow more time."

"C'mon, Garrus. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Well, it was."

"Well, I'm sorry it didn't go well. Do you mind dropping by late this afternoon? Haron and I are going to Chora's Den to get drunk. You're welcome if you want to join."

Garrus smiled faintly but shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't. I still have one more lead."

Chellick nodded. "Always working. You're welcome to change your mind if you want." With that, he turned and walked out. Soon after, Garrus left the C-Sec Offices and took a cab to the Citadel Tower.

* * *

Shepard and his team had just dropped Nihlus off at the Spectre Command building and had reached the Presidium. They neared the door to Udina's office. Shepard turned toward Anderson and said theatrically, "Prepare yourself. There is a creature on the other side of this door that no man should ever have to face."

Anderson smiled. "You really hate politicians, don't you?"

"Thought you would've got the message by now."

"It just clicked."

They went inside to find Udina sitting at his desk. He looked up and spotted his visitors. "Ah, Captain Anderson. I see you brought half your crew with you."

"They're here to help with the investigation _you're_ trying to set up." Anderson replied harshly.

"Like they actually will. The testimony of a confirmed smuggler and a dream by a comprised soldier is hardly concrete evidence. They'll never go for it."

_Dick._ Shepard thought. There was a reason he hated politicians. He couldn't blame Udina or the Council, though. Bringing the vision up was sure to accomplish the feat of making humans look like complete idiots. Hooray.

* * *

"Nihlus. Good to see you back." The asari receptionist at the Spectre Office said as Nihlus walked in.

"Good to be back." He replied, though he kind of didn't mean it.

"Did you hear about it?"

"About what?"

"Saren being brought to trial."

Nihlus's heart skipped a beat. Or two. "W-What? Who's accusing?"

"Those power-hungry bastards at the Systems Alliance."

"What are the charges?"

"He's being blamed for the attack on Eden Prime. C-sec conducted an investigation. I wouldn't worry though. We all looked through the evidence. Pretty much all they have is some dumb worker's testimony and the dream of some soldier."

"What soldier?" Nihlus already knew the answer to that question.

"Some human named John Shepard."

Nihlus turned and walked out the door without another word.

* * *

_45 minutes or so later..._

Shepard had left Udina's office, and what just now getting on the elevator for the Citadel Tower.

"Hey Shepard," Kaidan spoke up, "You tell Nihlus that his best friend's getting sued yet?"

Shepard winced. He should have told him. He really should have. But he didn't. _This day is really turning out to be lousy. _"No."

"Ever realize it might have been a good idea to do so? Like, before he finds out elsewhere?" As if on cue, the news system in the elevator started broadcasting: **Today, the Systems Alliance is kicking the hornet's nest, as they say, as they have brought the highly respected turian Spectre Saren Arterius to trial. This move was unexpected has caused some significant buzz in the world of politics... **"See what I mean?"

"Yeah. Not the best idea putting it off. But hey, I thought had some more time. I didn't find out about the trial until we were already here, basically." The door opened and Shepard walked out, followed closely by Ashley and Kaidan. They had walked to the middle of the plaza when an angry turian in red-and-black armor marched towards them. The team recognized him immediately.

"Looks he found out. And he's pissed." Kaidan remarked.

"No shit, Kaidan." Shepard snapped. Nice as he usually was, he still got angry during these types of situations.

Nihlus neared, stopped his movement only when his face was inches away from Shepard's. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" He hissed quietly as not to draw attention, though it was obviously dripping with venom.

"Yeah, I should have told you sooner..."

"Yeah, you should have."

Shepard ignored him. "But you were still recovering, Nihlus. Plus, I thought I had more time." Nihlus laughed mirthlessly.

"You think you can bring my friend-my spirits-damned _mentor_, mind you- and get off with a pathetic excuse like that?"

Shepard lost his patience, but still managed to keep his voice low. "Don't blame me for the fact you heard everything Powell said and didn't remember it." He retorted and blocked Nihlus's now-incoming fist. Nihlus didn't attack again, since he had momentarily forgotten about the fact that they were in the Council Chambers. It also helped that Kaidan and Ashley nearly drew their guns.

Nihlus calmed himself and then approached Shepard again. His voice was once again menacingly low,"I _will_ defend Saren at his trial." With that, he turned and stormed off.

* * *

Shepard was still reeling from Nihlus's accusation. He couldn't blame him. Saren was Nihlus's friend and mentor, and Shepard was charging him with treason. That was bad, but that was the situation. And Shepard's situations were bad 90% of the time. He was climbing up some steps when he heard a young but obviously stressed turian saying, "I still have leads. Saren's hiding something! C'mon, give me more time. Stall them!"

"Stall the Council?" The other turian replied calmly, "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus. " He turned and walked away. The remaining turian turned and saw Shepard's group. He seemed to recognize Shepard and he approached.

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

Shepard regarded him coolly, crossing his arms. "Sounds like you really want to bring him down."

"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. Like you humans say I can feel in my gut."

"But?"

"He's a Spectre. Most of his activities are classified. I couldn't find anything solid."

"I was afraid of that."

Kaidan cut in. "I think the Council's ready for us, Commander."

As Shepard walked by, Garrus called after him, "Good luck, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you."

He watched Shepard go, then walked in the elevator's direction. To hell with Pallin's orders. He still had more lead. And he was going to track it down, whether the Executor liked it or not.

* * *

Shepard walked into yet another plaza, where Anderson was waiting patiently by the steps. "The hearing's already started. Come on." Shepard followed him up the steps to where Udina was arguing with the asari councilor, a woman named Tevos.

"The geth attack is a matter of some concern," She was saying, "But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in anyway."

The turian councilor, a _very _skeptical man named Sparatus, picked it u right after her. "The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason."

"An eyewitness saw him order his death with no regrets!" Nihlus, sitting on a deck to the side of the atrium, shifted uncomfortably but said nothing.

"We reviewed the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador." The salarian, named Valern, spoke up. "A testimony from a traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof."

Nihlus rose, signaling that he wanted to speak. The entire audience and the Council turned to him. "I remember this distinctly, Ambassador. A geth shot me, and Saren was nowhere to be seen.

"But you meet him beforehand." Udina shot back.

" He didn't show any malicious intent! He said he was there to help me!" Nihlus said, desparation evident in his subharmonics.

Saren-or his hologram, rather-spoke up. "I resent these charges. Nihlus is my fellow Spectre, and my friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson nearly shouted.

"My guard has NOTHING to do with this!" Nihlus shouted back.

"Gentlemen, please!" Tevos interjected. Saren ignored her.

"Ah, Captain Anderson. You always seem to be present when humanity makes false charges against me." He turned to Shepard. "And this must be your protege, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."

Shepard thought up a counter. "The mission to Eden Prime was top secret. The only you could have known was if you were there!" The Council seemed to stiffen at this.

"Please. Nihlus passed the files onto me. I am his mentor, anyways. And I was unimpressed." The Council looked at Nihlus, who nodded.

"It's true." He said calmly. The Council's stiffness faded.

Saren continued. "But what can you expect from a human?"

Shepard spoke again, determined to prove this bastard guilty. "Saren despises humanity. That's why he attacked Eden Prime!"

"Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. Your're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres." Came Saren's calm but sharp retort.

Udina was visibly furious at this point. "He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!"

Tevos joined in, trying to get things back on track. "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting."

Saren kept going. "This meeting has no purpose! The humans are wasting your time, Councilors. And mine."

"Saren's hiding behind his position as a Spectre. You need to open your eyes!" Shepard pressed.

"What we need is evidence. So far we've seen nothing." Valern pointed out.

"There's still one issue unsettled," Anderson resumed, "Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?" Saren 'wondered'. "How can I defend my obvious innocence against this kind of testimony?" Shepard face-palmed. _We're doomed._

"I agree," Sparatus picked up on the thought, "These rulings must be based on real facts and evidence, no wild imaginings and reckless speculation!" He was obviously annoyed at such pathetic attempts to bring down a prestigious member of his own species.

"Anything else to say, Commander Shepard?" Valern said as if about to order his execution.

"You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath." With that, Tevos looked to Sparatus, who shook his head, and then to Valern, who did the same.

"The Council fins no real connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied." Tevos ruled.

"I'm glad to see justice was served." Saren said maliciously. His hologram vanished immediately after. Nihlus got up and left also.

"This meeting is adjourned." The asari concluded.

Shepard and Anderson walked off, while Udina tried to recompose himself, then followed. When they reached the bottom, Udina caught up with them. "It was a mistake bringing you into that meeting, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives."

"I know Saren. He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race." Anderson defended himself.

Shepard was curious. "Tell me about the history between you two."

" I went with mission with him a while back. Things went bad. Real bad. We shouldn't talk about it here. But I know what he's like. And he has to be stopped."

"What's our next step?"

Udina answered this time. "As a Spectre, he's virtually untouchable. we need to find to some way to expose him."

Kaidan walked up and joined in. "What about Garrus, that C-sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the Executor." He suggested.

"That's right! He was asking for time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren." Ashley picked up on the thought.

"Any idea on where we can find him?" Shepard asked.

"I have a contact in C-sec." said Udina. "His name is Harkin. He can help us track Garrus down."

"Forget it." Anderson said. "He was suspended a month ago. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser."

"You won't have to. You and Saren have too much history. Shepard will handle this."

"You can't just cut Anderson out of this investigation." Shepard pointed out.

"The Ambassador's right. I need to step aside."

Udina prepared to leave. "I have business to take care of. Captain, meet me in my office later." He walked off.

Anderson turned to Shepard. "Harkin's probably gettin' drunk in Chora's Den. It's a dingy club in the wards."

"If you're uncomfortable with this, Captain, there's probably another way."

"You talk to Barla Von. He's supposed an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Shadow Broker?" Ashley wondered.

"An information dealer. Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. Barla Von's supposedly one of his top representatives. He might have something. But it won't come cheap."

"Got it. I'll try and track down both of them. I should get going."

"Good luck, Shepard. I'll be in Udina's office if you need anything. Go there when you gathered evidence. Hopefully it will be enough."

"I'll get it done."

**A/N: Reviews appreciated! Mission suggestions also!**


End file.
